OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Each month, more than 2,100 elementary students in the Omaha area are given books to call their own.

The kids in kindergarten through third grade receive $7 worth of books at their reading level from a catalog. Teachers handle the paperwork, and United Way of the Midlands pays the bill.

The 10 schools from six districts involved in the Book Trust program were chosen based on their students’ families’ incomes and in part on the schools’ resources. The program began in September.

Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children’s welfare organization, show that students who can’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers are.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man shot in the face Saturday at a northeast Omaha intersection walked about eight blocks for help.

Omaha police say 54-year-old Terry Hudson was outdoors just after midnight when he was shot.

Police Sgt. Owen Gregg says Hudson walked to a house a block to the west, and a person there called 911, but Hudson continued on. A trail of blood marked his path.

Officials say Hudson was soon taken in critical condition to Creighton University Medical Center. Police say his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Gregg says it was not clear whether the assailant, fired while he was standing or from a vehicle. Police had not announced an arrest by midday Saturday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been cited on suspicion of giving a group of teenagers alcohol after a 16-year-old accidentally shot himself in the leg.

The teen was at a friend’s house with three other teens Thursday and wanted to show them a handgun.

Lincoln Officer Katie Flood says the group had been drinking and smoking marijuana when the shooting happened. The 16-year-old was taken to a local hospital and treated for injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

A 51-year-old woman was cited on suspicion of procuring alcohol to minors and child neglect. She is accused of buying the teenagers vodka, beer and a malt alcohol drink. The woman told police she didn’t know the boy, who was a family friend, had a gun.

MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A Norfolk woman accused of killing her daughter has had a public defender appointed to represent her.

22-year-old Carla Montoya appeared for a pretrial conference hearing Thursday in Madison County District Court. There, her previous attorney, Christopher Roth, said Montoya’s family, who had been paying her legal fees, had run out of money.

The Madison County Public Defender’s office will now represent Montoya.

Prosecutors say Montoya told police she had tossed her 4-year-old daughter, Caylee, into a bed three times on March 12 and that the girl may have hit her head on the bed frame or a wall.

Montoya has pleaded not guilty to intentional child abuse resulting in death.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has vacated the conviction of a Wayne man for refusing to submit to a blood test following his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. The ruling cites a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that places limits on such state laws.

But Friday’s opinion did not strike down the Nebraska law, which criminalizing a person’s refusal to submit to a blood test without a warrant. Defense attorney George Babcock says that goes against the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Babcock said Friday he’s now considering appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to have the state law declared unconstitutional.

The case stems from the 2013 arrest of 55-year-old Ricky McCumber after he refused to submit to a preliminary breath test and blood test.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 42-year-old Lincoln woman found hoarding dozens of cats and other pets in her home has been sentenced to 18 months’ probation and been barred from owning any pets for five years.

Autumn Rupert received the sentence Friday after pleading guilty to three counts of animal neglect.

In May, officers found dozens of cats and the house smelling strongly of urine and feces. Officials gave Rupert a week to clean up the house and on May 16 returned with animal control officers and removed nearly four dozen cats, a rabbit, three finches, two beta fish and 13 cages of tarantulas — as well as 10 dead kittens.

Of the 45 cats rescued, 28 were too sick to be saved and were euthanized.